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Speed/hill/fartleks (Read 1073 times)

    Just wondering what everyone does for these types of workouts?!
    zoom-zoom


    rectumdamnnearkilledem

      Tee hee...she said fartlek! Wink I actually did some hills and fartleks this AM. I like those workouts. Adds a little variety and I do seem to notice an increase in my performance shortly after. I like to do maybe half of the workout as hills, then run home doing some fartlek work. k

      Getting the wind knocked out of you is the only way to

      remind your lungs how much they like the taste of air.    

           ~ Sarah Kay

      goat


      Finder of good newts

        I'll typically use telephone poles to mark distances. So - warm up for 10 minutes and then run hard to the next telephone pole and easy for two. If there are no telephone poles around I'll use trees or rocks or the top of the next hill.

        It's hard to look down if you don't go up

          Speed: For pure speed I do 8 x 20 seconds at ~ mile pace with 40 second recoveries in the middle of an easy run. Sometiems I do these on a track or a football field and do 12 x 100m instead but not lately. Hills: I don't do too many hill repeats any more. I used to but found these can lead to burn out. You have to be careful doing too many hills too hard. They can be great "peaking" workouts leading up to a race though. Nowadays I just run a lot of my runs over hilly courses. Especially my long runs. Fartleks: I don't call anything in my log "fartlek" although a lot of the workouts I do--especially now when I'm pretty much just in base mode--could be considered such. I'll do things like 3 x 8 minutes on / 3 minutes off or 4 x 6 minutes on 2 off where on = tempo and off equals easy pace. I also do 10 x 2 minutes on / 1 minute off where on is more like 10k race pace or maybe just a little slower. That last one I've been doing in the middle of my long run lateley.

          Runners run

            I did my first hill workout since high school last night. I've been doing mostly fartlek type. I now remember why I hated hills so bad back then. Not much has changed other than I can't do them quite so fast! Wink
              fartleks: I usually don't plan on doing these, they just sort of happen if I feel good. I also use telephone poles (or mailboxes) and just run fast to a target. hills: there's a hill up to a reservoir near my house, so I sometimes do repeats of the hill -- up one side, down the other, and then back. Each repeat is a little over a mile and I'll do 3 or so. I usually like hills better than speed work. speed: In the past month I've done short bursts (200-400m) to work on efficiency and mile-long tempo efforts to elevate my lactate threshold. I'm trying to train from a Daniels Running Formula approach, so after 6 weeks of these I should start doing ~.5 mile repeats to target VO2max. I think when I first started doing speedwork I just did Yasso 800s -- repeats of 800m at your target marathon time (3:30 repeats for a 3hr, 30 min marathon). The idea is to work up to 10 of these before the marathon for guaranteed success Smile
                Hello Katekelly...I like to just pick out certain markers on my runs and do some sprint work from one to the other. I will vary them from week to week and change the distance from marker to marker. I will use a pole, a tree a house or anything that is easy to see when running. I will also time myself from mark to mark and record this for the next time to help improve my running. Just find it a good change from week to week. usually do it once a week. Hope this helps. Mike Smile
                  Personally, I think that speed & hill work is the root of all evil!! Some of my routes have a couple of large hills & I run them because I have to to get to the other side...and I whine & complain all the way up & down them. My speedwork is running with my husband & trying to keep up. He runs about 2min/mile faster than me, at least, and the runs feel like death at the time, but give me a sense of accomplishment later. Accomplishment or not, I'm still convinced that speed training was an evil curse imposed by some sprinter on us poor distance people!! Big grin
                  So do not get tired and stop trying. - Hebrews 12:3
                  Wingz


                  Professional Noob

                    Oh, I've been having fun with hills lately. I've had this most *wonderful* music on, and for some reason I got this idea in my head that I'm just "dancing" up the hills... and it works!

                    Roads were made for journeys...

                      When I run hills with hubby, he hollers over his shoulder, "Come on baby, it's just another step, just another step." I usually consider picking up the nearest rock & hurling it at the back of his head, but then realize it would stop what little momentum I have & I might just roll back down & have to start over!!
                      So do not get tired and stop trying. - Hebrews 12:3
                      Wingz


                      Professional Noob

                        Don't look up. Just look at the ground about 4 feet in front of you and concentrate on using those fantastic butt muscles we all have...

                        Roads were made for journeys...

                        vicentefrijole


                          Don't look up. Just look at the ground about 4 feet in front of you and concentrate on using those fantastic butt muscles we all have...
                          That's how I do them too... and it also helps me if I focus on really pumping my arms. I think hills are all about the arms. Big grin
                            here is a question for you all. When you do your fartlek workout do you worry about your distance and time or your workout. I did my 5k run tonight and incorporated my fartlek workout and my time was 4 min slower then my steady run. Is this normal or I'm I doing something wrong. Thanks. Surprised
                              here is a question for you all. When you do your fartlek workout do you worry about your distance and time or your workout. I did my 5k run tonight and incorporated my fartlek workout and my time was 4 min slower then my steady run. Is this normal or I'm I doing something wrong. Thanks. Surprised
                              I usually find that too, since the recovery time between intervals is slower than your speed interval is fast...does that make any sense? For me, it's just about the workout. I work on trying to do either one more interval as I increase or to try to increase the interval pace, but I don't care at all about total time. Just as long as I'm home in time for coffee and breakfast!
                              1000 mile club. "Pain is just the weakness leaking out."
                                I usually find that too, since the recovery time between intervals is slower than your speed interval is fast...does that make any sense? For me, it's just about the workout. I work on trying to do either one more interval as I increase or to try to increase the interval pace, but I don't care at all about total time. Just as long as I'm home in time for coffee and breakfast!
                                Wait, are we talking about intervals or fartleks? My fartlek runs are always faster than normal pace -- it's a normal run with some short, fast strides put in and maybe a random interval. If you're doing set distances or timed efforts and need to really recover afterwards I wouldn't call it a fartlek; I'd call it an interval workout. Maybe I'm just arguing terminology, but I think if you just "play" with your speed (some faster, some really fast, some slower, but usually returning to your easy pace) then your times will be faster for fartleks. I usually average ~8:45 for easy runs and ~8:15 for fartleks.
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